


Jaskier takes a chance

by DancingBlights



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Cliches!, Jaskier takes a chance, M/M, really hope I rated this right, spoiler his solution is kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22312429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingBlights/pseuds/DancingBlights
Summary: Usually men coming after Jaskier and Geralt isn't an issue. This time, someone sent a veritable army, Jaskier has a potential solution.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 11
Kudos: 468





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what it is about this show but I haven't posted in years and suddenly I'm getting ideas left and right and actually finishing and posting them.
> 
> This is unbeta'd because it's almost midnight.

Usually men coming after Jaskier and or Geralt is no issue. Usually, the big scary witcher either scares them off or kills them. This time someone has sent a damn army and Jaskier caught an arrow in the shoulder and they’re running.

Jaskier has already had the bright idea to throw a cloak over Geralt to at least try to mask the unmistakable bulk and white hair that usually reveals the witcher. They both curse the fact that Roach is still hitched in the woods, loose enough to escape but too far away to call.

He stumbles as Geralt grabs his upper arm mid stride and hauls him to the side down a dark alleyway and crowds Jaskier against a wall. Geralt’s unnaturally slow pulse is hammering compared to its standard where Jaskier’s chest is pressed against Geralt’s. The larger man is stock still, arms caging Jaskier in on either side as he listens for the steps of their pursuers.

“We seem to-” A large hand clamps over Jaskier’s mouth, effectively cutting him off as Geralt’s gaze stays focused on the end of the alley. Jaskier does his own survey and has two realizations. One, the alley they’re in is a dead end and while Geralt might be able to scale a building there’s not way in hell Jaskier can. Two, they’re far enough into the alley and it’s dark enough that from a distance no one but a witcher could make out any detail beyond two dark shapes.

It’s not long before the thundering sound of far too many footsteps is audible to both of them and Geralt is looking around them. The calculations racing around his mind are clear as he looks for a way to escape. It’s very quickly clear that he has no solution to their current predicament.

“Geral-” The hand is over his mouth again quickly and it takes two hands to push it away enough to keep talking. “Listen to me!” Jaskier hisses, Geralt’s attention snaps back to Jaskier although he doesn’t drop his hand. “I have a plan but you have to trust me.” Geralt grunts quietly. “Look, do you have a plan?” The silence is telling and the footsteps grow louder by the moment.

“Are you sure?” Geralt catches Jaskier’s eyes and Jaskier nods.

“Trust me.” He breaks to his own nerves. “And please don’t hate me after this.” The footsteps are almost at them and Jaskier swallows his nerves and brings his hands up to frame Geralt’s face. He puts enough purpose into the motion to make it seem real but light enough that Geralt can pull out of it at any moment.

To Jaskier’s immense surprise and relief Geralt follows where his hands guide and allows himself to be pulled into a kiss. Jaskier is careful to keep it chaste and light but as their pursuers grow closer Geralt seems to commit to the act and his hands settle on Jaskier’s hips, pulling him closer while also crowding him further against the wall. Jaskier can almost convince himself that the hands on his hips feel possessive, protective in some way.

Everything falls away as it quickly becomes clear that Geralt is one  _ hell _ of a kisser and is holding nothing back to make this look real. Jaskier can feel his knees going weak and it isn’t entirely due to the broken arrow in his shoulder. Jaskier lets out a very real moan when he feels one of Geralt’s hands pushes up to run up and down his side. One of his hands drop to cup the back of Geralt’s neck in a bid to pull him closer. 

A tiny little voice in the back of Jaskier’s head desperately tries to remind him that this is a distraction, a survival tactic and nothing more. The part of him that has been hopelessly pining after Geralt overrides sense and pushes him to push in as close as he can.

Geralt is the one to pull back, an incredibly embarrassing whine escaping Jaskier as he does. For one blessed moment Geralt seems to hesitate, one hand on Jaskier’s hip and the other still absently stroking his side. He stiffens after a moment, head shooting up so quickly he almost dislodges the hood of his cloak.

“They’re gone, we should get to Roach.” And just like that reality rushes back in and Jaskier feels himself flush bright red. He closes his eyes and feels Geralt check the arrow still lodged in his shoulder, the pain seeping back into his awareness.

“Of course, lead on.” Their progress out of town is slow, sticking to shadows and stopping constantly so Geralt can guide them around their pursuers until they make it out of town and to where Roach is hitched.

“Jaskier.” Jaskier looks up from where he had been attempting to check his own injury despite a bad line of sight. “We can’t remove it here. Get on Roach.” Geralt earns a couple of slow blinks of surprise, never having suggested Jaskier ride Roach.

It takes no small amount of help from Geralt to get Jaskier onto the horse thanks to the ever worsening pain in his shoulder but they manage and soon enough they’re moving away from the cursed town at a decent clip.

Two hours of travel later they finally stop as the sky slowly lightening into daybreak. Geralt helps Jaskier down from Roach and to a comfortable enough seat against a nearby tree. Between the high emotion of their escape and the poorly bandaged arrow that is  _ still in his shoulder _ Jaskier is on the verge of collapse.

“I have to pull the arrow out.” Geralt crouches in front of him, the bag holding their bandages and various salves on the ground next to him. “It’s going to hurt.” Jaskier nods and grits his teeth as Geralt gets a solid grip on the broken shaft and prepares to yank it out.

“Could you possibly count down?” The request is almost childish but he asks anyway. Geralt nods nonetheless and gives Jaskier a moment before he begins his count.

“Three.” And Geralt, the absolute traitor, pulls the arrow out on three. Jaskier barely bites down on the howl that threatens to break loose at the immediate and searing pain that overtakes the previous dull ache.

“Oh you absolute bastard!” He’s aware enough to not actually shriek his displeasure but Jaskier puts as much venom into the words as he can. Turns out that he can’t muster as much as he might like to. When his eyes open the look on Geralt’s face would be open relief on any other. “That was incredibly rude.”

“Anticipating pain makes it worse.” Jaskier watches with an open mouth as Geralt goes about patching up the injury with a single minded focus that is almost calming. 

“I do not believe that! You just wanted to be mean! Absolutely wretched!” His tirade is interrupted by Geralt’s hand settling on his uninjured shoulder. Jaskier feels the breath leave him at how close they are and the almost imperceptible uptick of one corner of Geralt’s mouth.

“Sleep, Jaskier. We can’t stay long.” Jaskier nods absently, allowing himself to be lead to the bedroll Geralt had somehow managed to set up when he wasn’t looking and he sleeps.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the similarly unbeta'd second chapter!

It’s another half day’s travel to get to the nearest town. Jaskier spends all of it on Roach, moaning about not being able to play and narrating the scenery to fill the silence. The memory of the kiss keeps pushing its way to the surface, prompting another outbreak of chatter as Jaskier desperately wills himself to forget the feeling of Geralt pressed close. 

The next town is small but just large enough to have a decent herbalist who has the things Geralt needs to dress Jaskier’s injury properly. The pair stop there first, Geralt not wanting to risk leaving Jaskier in a room in the inn alone for too long, intimately aware of the fact that there are still men after them.

Baths are a welcome distraction, Jaskier sinking into his with the same grateful moan as he always does. He closes his eyes as he sinks into the warm water and misses the way Geralt has to practically shake himself before continuing with his own task.

Once they’re both clean and dry, Geralt stares Jaskier down until he sits still on the edge of one of the beds obediently as Geralt carefully dresses and bandages his shoulder. Neither of them speak through the process, the silence that has settled over them too fragile to risk upsetting. The silence is perplexing to Geralt, it’s what he’s always asking for but now that he has it it’s unsettling. 

He finishes securing the bandage and goes to stand, his movement halted by a hand around his wrist. Geralt looks down and sees Jaskier, eyes locked on their shoes, cheeks dusted with pink.

“Thank you.” Jaskier’s voice is quiet, gentle against the pressing silence. “For not hating me.” Geralt grunts, confused. “I wouldn’t have blamed you for it.” 

“What are you talking about?” Geralt does his damndest to keep his voice soft, wincing when he falls short.

“For kissing you.” There’s pain written all over Jaskier’s face and none of it is from the arrow. A sudden realization hits Geralt and several thoughts run through his head. 

The first is that Jaskier looks like he’s waiting for Geralt to hit him. The second is that while their kiss in the alley may have been a means to an end and not intended to mean anything real, it most likely did to Jaskier. The third? The third thought is the one that takes the breath from Geralt’s lungs. The third thought is that the kiss meant something completely unpredicted to Geralt as well. 

The witcher just stares at Jaskier for a moment, sorting through the full weight of the feelings that are doing their best to hack their way out of Geralt’s chest. Hundreds of little moments swell to the surface, laughter over campfires, Jaskier wrapping bandages around injuries not deemed problematic enough to waste a potion. 

Jaskier choking on his own blood as the djinn wish tears at his throat, watching him lay, still and quiet on Yennefer’s spare bed. Watching Jaskier perform the last time he had played Toss a Coin, smiling wide and eyes sparkling as he coaxes drunk patrons into singing the chorus with him. Meeting Jaskier’s eyes over the heads, soaking in the delight the bard was projecting for as long as he could. Hearing Jaskier cry out when the arrow had pierced his shoulder.

A small, pained noise pulls him from his memories. The hand around his wrist pulling away makes him refocus his eyes and look down to see Jaskier curling into himself and away from Geralt. The prolonged silence crackles awkwardly and Geralt breaks. There’s no full mask to drop but Geralt lets whatever barriers he has built to keep Jaskier out drop. He steps forward, settling between his legs, Jaskier watching his warily for a moment before Geralt wraps his arms around his shoulders and pulls him close.

There’s a moment where Jaskier is stiff, surprised and confused, before he  _ melts _ . A sigh of relief punches its way out of Geralt as Jaskier’s arms come up to wrap around his waist, he feels Jaskier bury his face into his chest. They stay that way for a while, Geralt with his nose in Jaskier’s hair and Jaskier with his face in Geralt’s shirt.

“I could never hate you.” The admission is a low rolling rumble, felt more than heard but it prompts Jaskier to pull back enough to meet Geralt’s eyes, arms still around him. Geralt pushes through his discomfort and does his best to be an open book for Jaskier to read as the bard searches for something.

“I’m glad. It would be difficult to have you hate me. Although, at least I would have had one nice memory.” The smile on Jaskier’s face is so sad and Geralt can’t handle it. He brings on hand up to cup Jaskier’s jaw and leans in slowly, careful to not hold too tight so as Jaskier could pull away if he wanted.

Jaskier doesn’t pull away and they meet for their second kiss in as many days. This one is gentle, cautious and curious in contrast to the one from the night before. Geralt allows Jaskier to lead it, not wanting to push even as his instincts push him to press closer.

It’s a moment or two of learning each other before Jaskier, who has tangled his hands in Geralt’s hair, slowly lowers until he’s laying the bed beneath him. Geralt follows after, guided by the hands in his hair and chasing the kiss. It’s the work of a moment or two to arrange themselves so that Geralt isn’t crushing Jaskier. Geralt props himself on his elbows and Jaskier shifts so Geralt can settle between his legs, pressing back together as if they hadn’t just been seperated for a moment.

In the end, it’s Jaskier’s involuntary yelp of pain that brings things to a halt when he moves in just the wrong way and his shoulder pulls painfully. Geralt fusses for a moment over his bandage, only stopping when Jaskier pulls him down for another quick kiss.

“Geralt, as much as I loath to be the one to suggest it, we should sleep.” Geralt notes the deep exhaustion sitting behind Jaskier’s eyes and the sluggish movements as the bard tries to get settled and comes to a quick decision. Geralt shifts them so that he’s on his side with his back to the door and pulls Jaskier close so that his back presses against Geralt’s chest.

The light fades from the room as the sun goes down and, as Geralt presses his nose into the back of Jaskier’s neck he has two thoughts.

The first is that he will protect the man in his arms from anything, no matter what it takes. The second is that if he can fall asleep like this for the rest of his life he wil need nothing else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I'm writing things that I have very little experience writing but I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> There will almost definitely be a second chapter to this but it's late and I need to sleep. 
> 
> Also I have never written a detailed kiss scene and I don't think I broke that streak with this... oh well.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed!


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